Vikram Chandra Thakur is a geologist whose work focuses on the regional geology, tectonics and earthquake geology of the Himalaya.
Dr. Thakur is the former director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of the National Mineral Award of the Government of India (1983 – 1984), and of the Padma Shri award in 2018. [1] [2]
Born in Dharamsala in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India, Dr. Thakur received his M.Sc. from Panjab University, Chandigarh and the University of Aberdeen. He went on to receive a Ph.D. DIC from Imperial College, London.
He worked as a teacher from 1962 to 1965. In 1972, Vikram Chandra Thakur joined the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and retired as its director. From 1972 to 1986, he was a senior scientist, and later served as its director for 13 years. His specialization lies in the study of Himalayan geology, structural geology, and tectonics. In the course of his career, he extensively worked on the terrains of Zanskar, Ladakh, Garhwal, Chamba, Kumaon, and Arunachal Pradesh to establish their tectonic framework. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, and has written over 130 research papers. [2] [3]
Udupi Ramachandra Rao was an Indian space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation. He was also the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad and Nehru Planetarium at Bengaluru and chancellor of the Indian Institute for Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Thiruvananthapuram. He is known as "The Satellite Man of India". He pioneered India's first satellite launch Aryabhata in 1975.
Anil Kakodkar, is an Indian nuclear physicist and mechanical engineer. He was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, he was the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay from 1996 to 2000. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, on 26 January 2009.
Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia FRS was a pioneering geologist in India and among the first Indian scientists to work in the Geological Survey of India. He is remembered for his work on the stratigraphy of the Himalayas. He helped establish geological studies and investigations in India, specifically at the Institute of Himalayan Geology, which was renamed in 1976 after him as the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. His textbook on the Geology of India, first published in 1919, continues to be in use.
Sankar Kumar Pal is a computer scientist and the president of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. He is also a National Science Chair, Government of India. Pal is a computer scientist with an international reputation on pattern recognition, image processing, fuzzy neural network, rough fuzzy hybridization, soft computing, granular mining, and machine intelligence. He pioneered the development of fuzzy set theory, and neuro-fuzzy and rough-fuzzy computing for uncertainty modelling with demonstration in pattern recognition, image processing, machine learning, knowledge-based systems and data mining. Pal is widely recognized across the world for his pioneering and extraordinary contributions in Machine Intelligence, Fuzzy Logic, Soft Computing and Pattern Recognition. This has made India a leader in these disciplines in international scenario. He founded the Machine Intelligence Unit in 1993, and the Center for Soft Computing Research: A National Facility in 2004, both at the ISI. In the process he has created many renowned scientists out of his doctoral students.
John Bicknell Auden was an English geologist and explorer, older brother of the poet W. H. Auden, who worked for many years in India with the Geological Survey of India and later with the Food and Agriculture Organization. He studied the Himalayan strata, particularly the Krol Belt where he recognized rocks from the Peninsula thrusting north into the Himalayas. He also studied groundwater and was involved in studying the geology of many dam sites in India. Auden's Col is named after him.
K. Radhakrishnan a.k.a Koppillil Radhakrishnan is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as Chairman of Space Commission, Secretary of the Department of Space, Government of India. Under his leadership, India became the first country to reach Mars in its first attempt.
George Joseph is an Indian space scientist, best known for his contributions to the development of remote sensing technology in India, especially in the field of Earth observation sensors. He is a former chairman of the Lunar Mission Study Task Force of the Indian Space Research Organization and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National Academy of Engineering. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 1999.
Talat Ahmad is an Indian Earth Scientist, former Professor at the Department of Geology, University of Delhi and served as Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Senior Scientist. He served as Chairman of Governing body which oversees Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun from 1 November 2021 onwards and served the office till 31 October 2027. Previously, he commenced his second stint as Vice-Chancellor of University of Kashmir on 6 August 2018 and served the office till 20 May 2022. Before that, he served as Vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, he resigned from the post a few months short of his full term. He was shortlisted by a committee constituted by the governor to shortlist a panel for the post. He had earlier taken over as Vice-Chancellor of University of Kashmir from Professor Riyaz Punjabi on 1 June 2011 and served there until 2014. Prior to this, he was teaching Geology at the University of Delhi.
Vipparthi Adimurthy is the ISRO Honorary Distinguished Professor, VSSC. He was the former Satish Dhawan Professor and Dean of Research at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). Prior to joining IIST, Adimurthy held the post of associate director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, a major facility center of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is known for his contributions to the rocket technology and space dynamics. He is a recipient of Padma Shri from the Government of India. Murthy is the Mission Concept Designer, for India's Mars Orbiter Mission.
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun is an autonomous Natural Resources research institute for the study of Geology of the Himalaya under the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. It was established in June, 1968 in the Botany Department, Delhi University, the Institute was shifted to Dehradun, Uttarakhand during April, 1976.
Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan is an Indian aerospace and computer scientist. He is a Professor of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Supercomputer Education Research Centre of Indian Institute of Science and a visiting professor of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. Balakrishnan was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri
Khadg Singh Valdiya was an Indian geologist and a former vice chancellor of Kumaon University, internationally recognized for his path-breaking work in the fields of geodynamics and Environmental Science. A 2007 recipient of Padma Shri, he was honoured again by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award.
Sarvagya Singh Katiyar, FRSC, popularly known as S. S. Katiyar, was an Indian scientist specializing in enzymology, and the founder Director of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow. He is a former president of the Association of Indian Universities and a former vice chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur and Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology. He was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, followed by Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2009.
Chandra Prakash Vohra is an Indian geologist, glaciologist and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli.On May 24 th 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest,. He was the first Indian civilian to scale the peak a feat he accomplished on 24 May 1965. A winner of the Arjuna Award (1965), and the National Mineral Award, Vohra was honoured by the Government of India in 1965, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award,. He is the 4th Indian man and 19th man in world that climbed Mount Everest.
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Sampat Kumar Tandon is an Indian geologist and a professor emeritus of geology at the University of Delhi. He is a former pro-vice chancellor of Delhi University, Sir J. C. Bose Chair Professor of the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal and a D. N. Wadia Chair Professor of the department of Earth Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Guntupalli Veera Raghavendra Prasad is an Indian paleontologist and former head of the department of geology at the University of Delhi. He is known for his studies on the Mesozoic vertebrate groups of India and is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India as well as The World Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 2003.
Anil Kumar Gupta is a scientist and researcher from India who served as a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He was also the former director (2010–2017) of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India. His teaching interests include applied micropaleontology, paleoceanography and marine geosciences.